Les Lavoirs de France

Old Cravant: Le Lavoir

Pretty much every village in rural France will have a lavoir, and sometimes you can find them in the most obscure places, without any obvious reason for them being where they are. A lavoir was the public place for the back-breaking task of hand-washing clothes. They were positioned on a spring; beside or on a river. All the ones we've seen have roofs and shelter. 

Cravant actually has four lavoirs, of which three are covered and with walk ways, and the fourth is open.  One is in the centre of 'new' Cravant. Another is in 'old' Cravant opposite the church. The open lavoir is between these two, while the other covered lavoir can be found about 3 kilometres away, on the other side of the village.  All are in reasonable repair. It was the arrival of the modern drainage system and improvements in public housing and technology that contributed to  the decline of the lavoir. Today they are a tourist attraction with some going back to the 10th century.

Old Cravant: Slate roof of the lavoir

Found an interesting site this morning.  Lavoirs de France. Currently it's only available in French, but it covers every department in the country with photos of the lavoirs in each. Essentially it views the lavoir as a historic monument.  And why not!  It tells me that there are 217 lavoirs in the Indre et Loire region (37), which is where we are.  All are listed, including the four in Cravant. (You'll need to scroll down to Cravant). It's actually really interesting. There are all sorts of walking and cycling routes available to help you plan a visit in France, and which take you past the local lavoir as you travel round. It also actively encourages councils and private owners to maintain their lavoirs and so safeguard a unique aspect of French heritage. And it acts as an information point to record accurately the position of each lavoir in the country, as well as updating with any new finds.
 
Now that's what I call dedication!